Joe Dumars

In recent years, Joe has done some good things, and some not so good things, regarding the handling of his Piston's roster. I hear a lot of criticism of the Chauncy trade, but that was actually one of the good moves that Joe made. The Pistons had a very good run of 6 consecutive Eastern Conference Championships, but you have to remember, Chauncy led teams that lost 4 out of those 6 appearances, or twice as many as they won. In fact, when Chauncy was traded, the Pistons had lost 4 consecutive conference finals, and Billups performed anywhere from poorly to miserably in those series. Any successful GM knows, you have to keep an eye on the birth certificates of your players. The NBA as with most sports leagues is a young man's league, particularly at point guard where speed matters. Chauncy is going to be 36 next season, ancient among point guards. Joe essentially traded him for Ben Gordon, who is going to be 28 and right at the beginning of his prime chronologically. Joe traded Chauncy for cap space, the fact that Iverson was involved for 3/4 of one season is largely if not totally irrelevant to the long term direction of the franchise. The cap space that Joe acquired allowed for the signing of Gordon, which was to essentially trade Billups for Gordon. Do you think, given their current ages, any gm in the association would currently be willing to give up 27 year old Gordon for 34 year old Billups? Not likely, and with each passing day of the calender, the idea of such a trade will grow more laughable. Joe maintained talent level at guard while making the roster younger. I give Joe an A plus on this move. Gordon had a nightmare season with the Pistons last season, but given his body of work, and the especially bad Piston's team he was working with, we'll assume his performance was an aberration. The Chauncy trade was a good thing Joe did.
Bringing back Ben Wallace was a good thing. Ben had his highest field goal percentage ever as a Piston and was once again a rebounding force. He doesn't block shots like he once did, but Ben certainly is back to playing well enough to be a very real asset to this team.
Drafting Austin Daye, Jonas Jerebko and Greg Monroe were good moves. Jerebko blew me away with his rookie performance. I see all-star games in this kid's future, you heard it here first. Daye is a project, but his upside is so immense, he's worth the gamble. Greg Monroe was the pick to make at the Piston's position 7th slot in the draft and I have a sense that this pick will be looked back upon as a very good selection, and that he will out perform some drafted ahead of him. I think Monroe will be our most "Laimbeer like" center since Bill himself. I'm talking about a center that rebounds, passes, and has shooting touch. If Monroe plays with defensive intensity, Joe may have a pulled off a coup here.
Finding Will Bynum was a good move, as was resigning him.
Drafting Darko, not so good. Although I must say that the last time the Pistons played Darko, he was one of the better players on the floor that night. Essentially trading him for Rodney Stucky, not so bad. Stucky is without a doubt the most controversial piece of the Piston's puzzle. 16.6 points, 3.8 rebounds, 4.8 assists on a bad Piston's team at age 24, I have to lean positive with this guy. So, Mike Valenti, we will have to agree to disagree.
How about that Charlie Villanueva? I've seen this guy play well with the Bucks, but what happended to him in the D? I'm guessing Joe will get impatient quickly if Charlie V doesn't pick up his effort considerably.
Man oh man has Joe messed up the handling of Tayshaun Prince and Rip Hamilton. I guess we'll never know what kind of trade discussions Joe has had regarding these guys the last couple years, but he is guilty of the worst kind of NBA sin, holding onto players too long and watching their trade values diminish. I've seen Joe bail himself out of mistakes in the past, let's see if he can work some magic.
Lastly, I've heard some grape-vine stuff concerning Joe himself. Rumor has it that Joe is OUT when the new Piston's ownership takes over, that they'll want to clean house and establish new relationships rather than dealing with Ben Davidson era loyalists.I'm hearing talk of Isiah coming back now that the Davidson riff will not be an issue.